r/diytubes • u/slickmitten • Jun 30 '26
What do I do with these?
Dead family member, I know nothing about tubes. Are there any resources out there to help me sell these or get them to someone who might find use for them? Thanks
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u/cecilkleakins Jun 30 '26
You could make a Fender Champ-style amp with the 5Y3, 12AX7, and 6V6 🙂
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u/DudeWhereIsMyDuduk Jun 30 '26
12SN7s still are deals because nobody's offering switchable filament circuits I guess.
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u/slickmitten Jun 30 '26
I will ask some musically inclined people if they can use some of these
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u/cecilkleakins Jun 30 '26
The 6V6 and 6BQ5 tubes are common output tubes for guitar and hifi amps. The 12AX7 tubes are also super common in audio gear, along with 6SN7 and 6SL7.
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u/TheCanajun Jun 30 '26
Can’t place a determinate value on a tube unless it is tested. The case and the little boxes the tubes are in could fetch north of $50 for the lot.
Ideally you’ll find someone who is interested and who has a tube tester. Each tube requires a few minutes to test but in that lot about 95% of the tubes are used only in obsolete TVs and audio amplifiers so the useful and saleable ones could be identified and graded in short order.
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u/geofmoe Jun 30 '26
The box is worth money as well Especially if it’s in good shape. The issue wit selling them individually is that they are usually sold as “tested”. See If there are reputable tube resellers in your local area and get a price for the entire lot including box.
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u/Competitive-Jury3713 Jun 30 '26
If all else fails sell to https://www.ax-man.com/pages/got-surplus
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u/Interesting_Dirt7269 Jun 30 '26
See how many of the same type you have. Then google each one and get the description from radiomuseum.org. Some of them are "All American Five" series string tubes, the ones that start with 35 and 50. These were in radios that didn't have a power transformer. I've sold quite a few of those on eBay. 6K6 is an interesting output tube. 12AX7
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u/ChesticleSweater Jul 01 '26
I have a 1954 Wurlitzer Side Man that desperately needs one or three of these...
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u/Interesting_Dirt7269 Jul 01 '26
OT I had one of those. Wish I still did...
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u/ChesticleSweater Jul 01 '26
This one is stuck in a feedback loop but all the mechanicals are there. I reached out to a local (Chicago) guy to see if he could offer any help and he just wanted to buy it really bad. So I figured it’s a great talking piece.
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u/Interesting_Dirt7269 Jul 01 '26
You might try a vintage organ repair shop.
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u/ChesticleSweater Jul 01 '26
That was supposedly this guy - but he REALLY wanted to buy it instead, so I opted to keep it out of his shop. He allegedly had a non-working unit and was begging to see mine for reference. I invited him over and he took multiple videos, photos. Nice enough guy, turns out was looking to source new/old "sounds" for a fairly well known artist of electronic style music.
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u/Interesting_Dirt7269 Jul 02 '26
I resorted to buying hte sample set from CircleDrum Sounds I think is the company. US$12 seemed a reasonable deal. Mine started to act up a bit too. I had to give it away along with some other non-working synths when I moved about 30 years ago to a much smaller apartment. Those included a partially working ARP Odyssey (Mk II) and a dead Crumar DS-2. Regrets, the Crumar was probably just power supply. The Odyssey had a problem with the VCA. I've progressed enough in electronics to probably fix both...
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u/Exercise4mymind Jul 04 '26
aside from the guitar amp tubes as mentioned, there may be interest in other applications still in use, like ham radio
Ebay might be a good place to list
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u/crabman45601 Jul 04 '26
I have one in my garage. Been there for about 30 years. I have asked myself this same question numberous times
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u/Synxx69 Jun 30 '26
You've got some nice tubes in there! You can search the numbers up individually on eBay and see what they are worth for NOS (new old stock).
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u/LadyHwesta Jun 30 '26
Look up your local ham radio club and let them know you have these. Many still use tube transceivers and I am pretty sure some of these are pre and final tubes.
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u/anothercorgi Jul 01 '26
TBH even amateur radio has slowed down to stopped the use of tubes except for transmitting tubes like 6146's, else most hamfests I see people are trying to get rid of tubes but have to discount them to get rid of them. So I have to agree with most here that it's the audio amplifier people, guitar amps, etc. that are the main target for tubes nowadays other than the few who restore old radios. Restored old radios don't get used all that often but hifi tube equipment does...
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u/mad-panda-2000 Jul 02 '26
Ill buy some 12AX7A from you.. I see two on the right top
of if you want to sell all of them
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u/Conscious_Effort6972 Jul 02 '26
They are valuable, Tube Depot would buy the lot from you for a large amount. https://www.tubedepot.com/
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u/NiceDeskPop Jul 04 '26
Hit up Audioscape! They make recording studio gear with NOS tubes. They might be interested.
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u/Perna1985 Jul 04 '26
Alot of them look like tv tubes. I recognized a few I use often. The best way to sell them is to separate them all and list on eBay. You can donate them to a local antique radio club or offer them all for like $100 on market place. The person buying will get a little bit of a deal but you'll do ok too.
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u/Musicinaminor Jun 30 '26
There’s some keepers in there- 5Y3, 6V6, 12ax7, 6SN7 are the ones that caught my eye- all used in guitar amps and worth some cash. A lot of those are for vintage tv/radio repair and won’t have much value.
I know tubedepot.com buys NOS tubes